For UPYERKILT

Lieven
I was thinking of looking this up in google and pretending to be very brainy and knowlegable, but i wont, I dont mind being wrong sometimes. I dont mind people telling me i am wrong if i am and not just in their opinion.

I am thinking whisky actually never started anywhere in the west but actually in the far east, it has however been made famous mostly from Scotland.
I think the different spellings with whisky and whiskey is something to do with scottish gaelic and irish gaelic. Whisky is a gealic word and translated into english means " the water of life"
Irish gaelic is pronounced "gay lick" where Scots gaelic is pronounced "Ga Lick"

I do like Irish whiskies, or the ones I have tried I like. But I do much prefer the scottish malts, particularly the speyside malts and highland malts. I find them easier to drink, easier than the island malts that are very peaty, smokey, strong tasting. But you can get a lot of very nice peaty malts ( I just cannot drink enough to get drunk on it, but one or two glasses is nice)

As for american whiskies or even canadian ones, I do not class these as whisky or whiskey. The ones I have tried are a far different taste from what scotland and ireland produce, they seem a lot harsher to the throat and are much better diluted wit ha fizzy drink. Also they can be very very sweet, toooooo sweet.

And another thing about whisky ,lol. Last years international whisky winner was "Tallisker" one of the songle malts from the isle of Islay ( biggest whisky producing island, and thats whith most of their distilleries closed down now), a nice tasting smokey whisky.
BUT this year is not even a scottish whisky, nor is it an Irish whiskey, and no way is it an american whisky, whiskey,bourbon,mash etc. Oh nO, this years winner is from Japan!!!!! a japanese whisky!!! Canny remember the name but it is about £80 a bottle.

What is the world coming to? a scottish whisky winning an award that should ( in my view) be scottish every year.:lol:
I think highland park won it a couple of years ago, a whisky from the shetlands. One of my favourites.

as for the ingredients, Barley,yeast and no idea what else,lol, but they ferment it like a wine i think then distill it and produce whisky
Apart from me loving the stuff and doing the odd whisky tour ye think I would remember more about how it is made. And not only that, I grew up for 2o years of my life with Auchentoshian distillery literally at the bottom of my garden, my fence was their fence ( with a big hole in it)
I loved the smell coming from it. Other neighbours hates it and closed their windows, I used to go to bed and open my window to let the smell whaft in.

Ok,
I think  Iwill end this now

Ken

Oh, Ken, you should try a good quality bourbon or sour mash on ice with just a couple drops of lime juice in it. 

They are sweet, though, that's for sure.  Bourbon is aged in an oak cask that has been burned on the inside.  I heard on a tour once that the burning gets rid of the nasty things like tar and creosote, and then the alcohol gets into the wood grain and picks up some of the alcohol soluble flavorings available in it much like wine aged in oak without picking up the nasty flavors of tar and creosote.  I don't know if that's true, it's just what I remember hearing (and my memory's only so-so).  Of course, American white oak is used rather than French oak.  American oak has a stronger, harsher flavor than French oak, but the sweetness of the mash stands up to it just fine, unlike wine.  I don't like Chardonnay aged in American white oak.  It's like sucking on a twig.  Blech!  But a nice glass of bourbon on ice with just a touch of lime, or maybe even some ginger ale (for the bubbles you mentioned) and it's smooth sailing and sweet picking until bed-time. 

- Zurf

There are only two kinds of whiskey,  there's whiskey and Good whiskey,  there ain't no bad whiskey.

Hey Zurf,  If you have Costco, or Trader Joe's near you, they sometimes have Great buys on Single Malt Scotch, In Store lables.  TJ's had 18 year old Macallen for under $50 a bottle.  (it retails at bevmo for $140)  They usually go quick.
I'll have to try the Elijah Craig.

geezo, Al,
I knew that ,lol. I had that many things going through my head at the time of typing. Talisker is the only malt whisky to come from Skye. but it is talisker, not takisker, lol, sorry for correcting you too,   ( I love typos)

And Zurf, I shall try a sour mash with ice and lime sometime.

I used to drink J.D a lot wen i was in my late teens and early 20's but when going up the hills with a heavy enough rucksack I dont like the idea of carrying extra weight such as coke to go with it. So after drinking whisky and lemonade also I had to teach my taste buds to accept that whisky and water is the best way to go. Then after maybe about a year of not drinking J.D then trying it again, it was just minging, then i tried a southern comfort, another i used to drink wit hlemonade but again too sweet and minging for my taste buds.

Now, a very good whisky liquor is Glayva!!! own its own with ice. It is sweet but a nice sweetness. Or have a "rusty nail" glayva and another whisky mixed in with ice.

Ken

Wow, a woman who enjoys a fine whiskey is a rare thing indeed. A good friend of mine (a Kentuckian) introduced me to Makers' Mark many years ago and it has been my go to sippin whiskey ever since.

Deb - do you cook? do you do the other thing? - I may propose, but I have to know if you do the other thing well

....... I mean do you iron

My wife won't iron so I am thinking about trading her in (this is a secret don't tell her)

U-Y-KILT

Well done for such an even-handed approach to a controversial subject!

The oldest whiskey in the world is reputed to be Bushmills, an Irish whiskey that is celebrating 400 years of whiskey making from the same water - this very year. King Kames 1 provided the original licence to distil in 1608. As usual, however I'm sure the authorities only caught on late to a flourishing local industry. Why not help us celebrate it's birthday?

It is made here in Northern Ireland in a small village that looks out onto the wild North Atlantic. Just a few months ago, Bushmills twinned with Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville has a population of 256,231 compared to the 1,319 inhabitants of Bushmills.

I like a Jim Beam - white - but my main wet is the Bushmills Original. Of course you could try making your own ( http://www.homedistiller.org/ ) which is illegal in most parts of the world.

As for who invented distilling, I assume it was some poor chinese guy who failed to get his patent in on time. We should have a "World Whiskey Guy" day to honour him - we'd have to be sure to spell it right, of course ! We could have an international festival of Irish, Scottish and American songs about whiskey.

OK Mixster, I had my brands mixed up.  It's Glenlivet I usually drink in Scotch, not Macallan.  The bottle of Macallan you mentioned was priced at $169 as of last night in our store, so it looks like I'll have to go to California and buy enough booze while there for the savings to pay for the trip.  Which will take a lot because I'll have to rent a truck to get it home to Virginia.

Ken, There is no need to add anything to Southern Comfort.  In the winter, I drink it straight from the bottle (well, actually from a glass, but that's filled straight from the bottle with no mixers).  In the summer, I chill it down by pouring it over ice and then draining back out into my glass.  It is sweet beyond reason, but sometimes I like that.   Like, right now, for instance.  Nah.  It's only 9AM on a work day.  I'll wait for a more reasonable time.

JustDeb, Makers Mark is some of the finest bourbon style whiskey I've had.  I don't recall if it's a sour mash or a bourbon by proper definition, but it is delicious nevertheless.  Perhaps the best I've ever had.  It is also more expensive than Elijah Craig.  Me being a cheapskate, I can forgo a bit of taste for a lot of savings, especially because I usually mix with a dash of ginger ale and a couple drops of lime juice.  No sense buying expensive booze only to mix it with something.  But you surely do have good taste in whiskey, there is no doubt about that. 

Still, when all is said and done, the Scots make the best whisky.  Stupid exchange rate.

- Zurf

let me work on a capo alternative and see what i can come up with

Jings! I love this thread! Looks like one too many haufs for me there....

Thanks for the warm welcomes... music and whiskey/bourbon do go together rather well (sometimes too well ;-) )

I'm thinking about expanding my horizons and trying some Irish and Scotch whiskey/whisky---and this weekend sounds about as good as any.  I'll post my findings :-D

_debs_

     
Irish Whiskey = from a GAY LICK word UISCE BEATHA
Scottish Whisky = from a GA LICK word USQUEBAUGH
GAY-LICK      
Isn't language beautiful, probably same tribes, one moving to Ireland and the other in Scotland.
I've been "fascinated" since years in LANGUAGES, or the ORIGIN of languages. Most of our language is an evolution from INDO-GERMANIC. In INDIA: FATHER= PITAR, in DUTCH = VADER, LATIN = PATER (you see the similarity).
The IRISH-GALLIC word is Uisce (of Uisge) Beatha (uitspraak iesjkje bjaha)
The SCOTTISH - GALLIC = Usquebaugh, both meaning WATER OF LIFE.
In Danmark: AQUAVIT, in France: eau-de-vie.
I am surprised to have so many responses.
I went to a whisky distillery in SCOTLAND, I was told there that the WATER was important too, but most funny was when they opened a huge wash back, and breathing with your head over the edge, Jesus, my daughter 7 years old couldn't walk after inhaling, and we were "high".

there are many stories about the stone of scone AKA stone of destiny. I have heard it was originally from Ireland but also I have heard it was a present from an egyptian king.
There is also a rumour that when King Edward the first, hammerer of the scots decided to take this stone away to make the scottish feel like they were now powerless against him and could not crown any more kings unless it was under him, it has been said that the stone he took away is not the real stone but in fact a cover for a sewer pit, a lid for a cludgie and with those two handles on the top this might well be right.
Also when some students stole the stone it is also a rumour that the stone that was returned was a replica and the original one they had stolen is in a secret location near Scone. A friend of a friend of a cousin of a friend said the stone they have now has a document inside it saying it is fake.
there are so many stories about this lunp of brick I dont think anyone will really know for sure what is real and what is not.
But I do know that the lowland whisky Bladnoch 15 year old is a very excellent whisky.
absolutely nothing to do with Scone,

Ken